Skin Health 101

Unsure of your skin type? Wondering what is an exfoliant and why do you need one? Curious about an ingredient? Does skincare confuse you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this page is the one for you!

Hey Guys! Welcome to Nia Imani. As many of you know, I am a licensed and practicing esthetician. My goal as an esthetician is to provide my clients with the tools they need to support the treatment. I believe the most valuable tool they need is skin knowledge– skin health knowledge that is. I want my clients to understand what effects of ingredients, skincare tools, and more. My goal is to arm them with the knowledge to protect their skin’s health. I feel that arming them with skin health knowledge will empower them to make good skin care choices even when I am not around or available to provide guidance. I want to use that same philosophy here on Nia Imani. I believe all people, not just my clients should have access to information pertaining to skin health. I wanted to share my passion for skin health and skincare competency. I believe skin should be taken care of and maintained like all other organs. I also believe that as a licensed professional and skin care enthusiast I have a fantastic opportunity to share the knowledge, tips, and tricks that I have acquired with everyone (not just my clients). So, with that welcome to skin health 101. Skin Health 101 is a series of skin care related posts; this series is about all the various kinds of skin care tidbits that only licensed professionals and skin care enthusiast know. This series is for people who just are in a skin care runt, or need a little help navigating skin care, or even just someone looking to know a little more about skin care. I will be breaking down everything from ingredients to hot tips and more! Awesome, right? Ok, today’s 101 is going to cover tea tree oil. So, without further ado let’s jump into it! Everyone knows about tea tree oil. It is definitely an OG skin care ingredient. However, there are so many properties that I feel like I could definitely shed some light about it. I mean, if you ask me nothing matters more than to know if this “trendy” ingredient will actually benefits you or more. So, let’s explore tea tree, how it works, and who exactly it works on, shall we? Tea Tree is a small, flowering tree that originates in Australia. It also is known as melaleuca oil or ti tree oil. Tea Tree is often found in tea or oil form. The oil is the most common format of tea tree; the oil form is called essential oil. Essential Oils are compounds of extracted plants. These oils are highly concentrated and usually aromatherapy technicians and experts urge users to mix essential oils with carrier oils. (Carrier Oils are usually fruit, vegetable or nut-based oils like olive, argan, almond, sunflower, etc.) Tea tree oil have tons of benefits. It works best for oily, acne prone skin types being that the star benefits are anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-septic, and anti-fungal. (Making it amazing for anyone suffering from more severe forms of acne like fungal acne.) However, other benefits such as anti-inflammation and desensitization make tea tree great for skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis as well. Like I stated above, essential oils such as Tea Tree are usually mixed with carrying oils for safe usage. Sometimes, you can find minute amounts mixed in with liquids like toners or beauty waters. In such small amounts it is safe. When applying it to the skin without being mixed with a carrier oil or liquid base tea tree can cause sensitivity or even more seriously burns. Now, other usages for tea tree are dandruff, nail fungus, wound care, and healthy hair growth. One can use tea tree essential oils or products that are infused with tea tree. If you are considering using tea tree oil in your skin care please be advised that “over” usage can cause dryness, dehydration, and sensitivity. I would recommend slowly adding it into your routine one day at a time, one product at a time. If you are allergic to other plants I would suggest consulting with a physician before introducing this ingredient to your routine.

That’s all folks! Thank you for stopping by Nia Imani. If you have any questions, comments, etc. please leave them below. All my social media and other forms of contact are in the “contact” tab above. Make sure you check out other Skin Health 101 posts! Thank you again for stopping by I hope you enjoyed today’s posts remember to like and share—until next time!